Abstract
Objective: Despite the increasing availability of low- and reduced-fat foods, Americans continue to consume more fat than recommended, which may be a contributing factor to the obesity epidemic. This investigation examined relationships between liking and household availability of high- and low-fat foods and their association with dietary fat intake. Research Methods and Procedures: A food frequency questionnaire assessed percent calories from fat consumed over the past year in 85 men and 80 women. Participants reported their degree of liking 22 "high-fat foods" (>45% calories from fat) and 22 "low-fat foods" (<18% calories from fat), and the number and percentage (number of high-or low-fat foods/total number of foods X 100) of these high-and low-fat foods in their homes. Results: Hierarchical regression analyses examined the ability of liking and household availability of low- and high-fat foods to predict percent dietary fat intake. After controlling for age, sex, and BMI, liking ratings for high-and low-fat foods and the interaction of liking for low-fat foods by the percentage of low-fat foods in the household were significant predictors of percent dietary fat consumed. Greater liking of high-fat foods and lower liking of low-fat foods, both alone and combined with a lower percentage of low-fat foods in the home, were predictive of higher dietary fat intake. Discussion: Interventions designed to reduce dietary fat intake should target both decreasing liking for high-fat foods and increasing liking for low-fat foods, along with increasing the proportion of low-fat foods in the household.
Original language | English (US) |
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Pages (from-to) | 816-823 |
Number of pages | 8 |
Journal | Obesity research |
Volume | 12 |
Issue number | 5 |
DOIs | |
State | Published - 2004 |
Keywords
- Dietary fat intake
- Household availability
- Liking